Madam Restell (1812 - 1878)

Ann Trow Lohman, better known as Madame Restell, was a 19th-century British-born American abortionist who practiced in New York City. Madame Restell advertised her services as a "Female Physician" in newspapers such as the Herald and the New York Times. She and her husband Charles operated out of a large brownstone mansion on the northeast corner of Fifth Avenue and 52nd Street. When Restell began her business, abortions were not illegal -- only surgical abortions were forbidden. Surgical abortions were defined as action taken after the quickening (when a woman started to feel the fetus move, typically around 4 months time). Restell's success began to attract copiers and competition, which drew the attention of the AMA, which launched a campaign in 1857 to end abortion. To rally support for their cause, the AMA targeted Restell, the most celebrated abortionist. The term "Restellism" became a euphemism for abortion. With the swift changes of law in New York at this time, Restell was constantly being hounded by authorities and anti-abortion crusaders to end her practice, facing several lawsuits and "trials in the press." At last, convicted in one case, she served her sentence, and then reworked her business to remove surgical abortions entirely, concentrating her efforts on birth-control pills and renting her boarding house, charging for abortions on a sliding scale based on ability to pay. While Madame Restell dialed back her still-very-profitable business, the press did not leave her reputation to rest. She was dubbed "The Wickedest Woman in New York." source: Wikipedia

Known for
patent medicine for birth control

performing abortions

public face of abortion/anti-abortion sides in continuing debates

"Comstock's deception" - Postal inspector Anthony Comstock, first pretending to be a client, had her arrested and prosecuted her for sending "pornography" (which he officially defined as any information about preventing pregnancy) through the mails.

Find more
Wikipedia (page "has problems")

Podcast: "The Notorious Madame Restell: The Abortionist of Fifth Avenue," by the Bowery Boys / New York City history

Works based on
Ann Trow Lohman is acknowledged as the inspiration for Kate Manning's heroine Annie "Axie" Muldoon in her historical novel My Notorious Life (2013)

Madame Restell is also a prominent character in Marge Piercy's historical novel, Sex Wars (2006), which depicts the social and political climate surrounding women's sexual, physical, and reproductive activities during the Gilded Age.

A minor character in Gore Vidal's historical novel 1876 (2000). A minor character in Edward Rutherfurd's historical novel New York (2010).